Visual Poems

6th Grade Research and Inquiry Resources

Objectives

• Students will use the Internet to research concrete poems and related poetic terms.
• Students will view several concrete poems, some with visual backgrounds and some without.
• Students will compose their own concrete poem.

Description

This site is provided by Oregon State University. It provides examples of concrete poems, both with and without visual backgrounds.

Suggested Activities

• Have students discuss in groups the differences between concrete poems with visual backgrounds and concrete poems without visual backgrounds. Do visual backgrounds enhance a concrete poem's meaning? Do they detract from it? Why?
• Have the entire class get together to compose a large, collective concrete poem to be displayed in the school hallway.

Level Activities

• Have students connect to http://www.famouspainter.com/ to explore other potential relationships between the visual and the poetic. This site contains biographies of sixteen famous painters and links to thumbnail images of their paintings. Students should browse several of the Gallery sections located at the bottom of each artist's page and then: choose a favorite painting and identify, in writing, why they like it. write a detailed description of their favorite painting, concentrating on the lines, colors, and shapes that they see. write a poem about their favorite painting.